A Different Destiny
by Zimarah
Summary: Based off the live action series. What if one decision had been different in the past life? Can fate be changed?
1. Chapter 1

"If this continues, everything will be laid to ruin!"

"Calm down! Both of you!"

"Queen Metalia's army is growing by the minute, we can't sit here and do nothing!"

"Did you forget our duty? We stay here and protect our Master!"

"I'm not an idiot, I know that! But Metalia's army can be stopped now, before it..."

"Nephrite, Kunzite, stop it!"

Prince Endymion stood in the back of the music room, watching helplessly as his guardians fought. He had never seen them like this before. Until recently, they had been the best of friends, or so he'd thought. Things had changed quickly since the rise of Metalia.

Nephrite and Kunzite were the most vocal of the four. Nephrite insisted on going out and meeting the youma army before it reached the palace. Kunzite, always loyal to his Master, knew that they couldn't leave Endymion alone at a time like this. Zoisite implored the two of them to be calm and think things through reasonably, but he was ignored, as was Jadeite who tried to get a word or two in before being cut off.

This was his own fault, Endymion knew, but there was nothing he could do to change things now. He loved Serenity, more than anything. They would survive this.

What they did know so far wasn't good. Metalia had used a woman named Beryl, originally a commoner who, like many girls, had fallen in love with the Earth Prince at first sight. When Metalia found Beryl, she twisted this infatuation into something much more dangerous. Through Beryl, Metalia grew and soon began to turn the people of Earth against their own Prince.

Prince Endymion of Earth and Princess Serenity of the Moon had fallen in love. It was a fact that the people of Earth disliked, and in some cases even hated the people of the Moon. The feelings were not all that different vise versa. In most cases, however, the people's love for their Prince was even stronger. If Metalia's influence hadn't gotten to them, perhaps this war would never have started.

Against the advice of both the Prince and the Princess's guardians, they announced their intent to marry. It was then that all Hell broke loose.

Metalia's following began to grow, starting in the more distant corners of the Earth Kingdom and working itself inward. If a person's feelings of hatred were strong enough, they began to change into what were called 'youma'. Powerful monsters, under Metalia's control.

The size of the youma army was not clear, but it was believed by many that Endymion's army was still stronger. If they attacked now, the army, along with Metalia could be stopped. Once Metalia was gone, so would her influence. Things could return to normal, or so Nephrite thought.

Kunzite never said that he disagreed with this assessment, it was certainly consistent with what information they had. The point was that they were Endymion's personal guardians and couldn't be leading the army out to meet Metalia while Endymion sits in the palace unprotected.

Zoisite, as odd as it was, actually agreed with Kunzite. The information they had could be wrong, and even if it wasn't, their place was with their Prince. The idea of sending the army out after Metalia, while they personally stayed behind had crossed his mind.

Jadeite didn't know what to think. Everything had happened so fast and changed so quickly. He didn't like seeing his friends fight. Shouldn't they be united at a time like this?

"Stop this..." Endymion's voice said quietly. It was not enough to cut through the three voices yelling at each other, so he was forced to raise it. "Stop it! Kunzite, Zoisite, Nephrite, Jadeite!"

All four immediately stopped and looked at their Master, shocked that not only had he raised his voice, but also that they had forgotten that he was even in the room. He took a few steps towards them before he spoke.

"I know that I was the one who got you all into this, and for that, I am sorry. However, I will not have you arguing with each other like this, not now, not when I need you the most."

Silence followed. Kunzite and Nephrite couldn't help but hang their heads guiltily, it was not often that they were admonished by their Master. Zoisite too was not free from blame, but seemed thankful for the resulting quiet. Endymion looked at each of his guardians in turn before speaking again.

"Zoisite, you have always been the most thoughtful and clear headed of us all. Tell me what you are thinking."

"Master, Kunzite is right, our place is at your side. No matter what happens, that will not change. However, Metalia's forces are growing, and if we wait until they are at our door, it may be too late. I would recommend that we send our troops out to meet her."

"Without us?" Nephrite asked, his voice on the verge of raising again.

"Without us," Zoisite confirmed calmly. "They don't need us to lead them, there are many fine and qualified soldiers among them who would be up to that task."

Endymion nodded his agreement. "Kunzite?"

"It would be the most logical route to take."

"Alright then. Kunzite and Zoisite, I want you two to get them organized and ready to go as soon as possible. Let me know what they are ready."

"Yes, Master," they replied in unison, bowing politely before taking their leave.

"Nephrite, I want you to keep me up-to-date on what recon information we've gathered. We should be expecting a few more men to be returning later today."

"Master," he bowed before leaving as well.

Jadeite look up at Endymion expectantly. "And, what about me?"

"I could use some company," Endymion smiled, also turning to leave the room, but held the door for the youngest of the Shitennou to follow.

---

The four Sailor Senshi had gathered together quietly in Venus' chambers, away from their Princess. Things had gone from bad to worse on Earth and Serenity was adamant about going down to Earth to be with Endymion, as he couldn't be expected to leave his home now.

"We can't let her go down there, that much is certain," Jupiter began, stating the one thing they could all agree upon.

"Agreed," replied the Senshi's leader.

"That's all fine and well, but how exactly do you propose to stop her? She will go, with or without us."

"That's why we're here, Mars, to figure that out."

Not one of the four knew what to suggest. It was far too dangerous on Earth right now for the Princess, but how could they make her see that? Mars did not believe that their Princess could be made to see without experiencing it first hand, and that was not an option.

The quiet voice of the fourth Senshi present finally came forward. "I don't think it's really possible to stop her," Mercury said. "I do think she understands the danger, she just loves him so much that it's not important."

Venus sighed, she probability knew that Mercury spoke the truth. "I will try speaking to her again, perhaps that's all we can do."

"That won't be necessary," came a fifth voice.

Mars turned, as did the other three Senshi. They were shocked to see Serenity standing in the doorway. "Princess..."

"Do the four of you often have meetings behind my back?"

Jupiter stepped forward. "We are just concerned for you, Princess. We don't want to see you get hurt. Endymion's palace could easily be attacked any day now."

"I know the risk, but I need to see him," Serenity explained. "Please understand."

"Princess, please reconsider," Venus pleaded.

"I am going down to Earth tomorrow," Serenity continued, ignoring the guardian. "I would like you to accompany me."

Defeated, there was only one option left, perform their duty as best they could on Earth. "Of course we will, Princess," Mercury spoke for the four.

Serenity smiled. She had always found Mercury to be the most understanding of her Senshi. "Thank you."

---

Nephrite stood with his hands on the table in front of him, looking down at the map. He hated this, waiting around for the enemy to attack. Zoisite was right of course, he always was. They could not leave Endymion's side. He just wanted to get this over with.

He had no misconceptions about how this battle was going to unfold. He fully expected to be dead within the next few days, and he couldn't imagine that Kunzite or Zoisite thought any differently. Jadeite would probably still be hoping for the best, the naïve fool that he was.

Four recon teams had been sent out earlier that day, one in each direction from the palace. Nephrite was waiting for their return and would update the map as needed.

Currently, they knew that most of Metalia's forces, and likely Metalia herself were to the north of the palace, with small youma camps in the other three directions. So long as nothing changed with the reports tonight, north would be where the troops would be sent.

"Sir!"

Nephrite turned and acknowledged the first of the recon groups to arrive, the North group. "Report."

"It has gotten worse, Sir. I would estimate that the youma army is well into the hundreds. Perhaps three hundred strong."

Three hundred. The army they had was closer to two hundred, perhaps two fifty at best. "Any sign of Metalia herself?"

"No, sir."

"Dismissed."

Turning back to the map, Nephrite added the appropriate figures to the it. Metalia would likely attack sooner rather than later, as early as tomorrow evening, he figured. Perhaps he wouldn't have to wait all that much longer after all.

The teams from the south and east returned soon after and there was little update from them. Small youma camps, nothing more. The team from the west had yet to return, and was well over due when Nephrite noticed he was no longer alone and snapped to attention.

"Your majesty," he said, addressing Endymion's father.

The older man looked as though he had barely even seen Nephrite and was staring vaguely at the map. "At ease," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "They've almost doubled in such a short time..." He wasn't so much speaking to Nephrite as he was himself. He continued to look at the map for several more minutes before speaking again. "Protect my son."

"Always, your majesty."

And with that said, he turned and left the room as quietly as he had entered it. It was eerie, Nephrite thought. He had never seen the man act so distant and cut off from everything. He too must believe that everything is about to end.

---

The quietest of the Senshi stood in one of the many gardens on the Moon Palace grounds, staring out at the horizon. The Earth was in view and it looked as it always had, even though things had changed so drastically. How bad was it down there?

It had been a week since the Princess had last visited. At the time, it was known that Metalia was building an army, but it's numbers were unknown. The army would have grown since then, and was probably ready to attack. Mercury couldn't help but worry about the people down there, even if they had never been particularly friendly to each other.

For Serenity's last visit, most of it had been spent arguing with Endymion's Shitennou. The leaders of both groups of guardians had been the most vocal.

"Are you blind to what is happening? Metalia has turned most of Earth's people against us and you still bring her here? How is that going to help anyone?"

"We are well aware of the situation, however the will of the Princess cannot be changed, not by any of us. If she wants to come here, and she certainly seems welcome by your 'Master', then she will. If our positions were reversed..."

"If they were reversed," Nephrite interrupted, "we would have done everything in our power to stop our Master from going."

"And you don't think we have?" Mars questioned angrily.

Mercury stood away from most of the fighting. It was strange how they felt they needed to fight, even though both sides wanted the same thing. Perhaps they just need someone at which to vent their anger and frustration.

The blue haired Senshi noticed that, like herself, one of Endymion's guardian's was also staying out of the battle. The smallest of the four and, she suspected, the youngest. Perhaps she could try what the others hadn't. Talk.

Her noticed her as she cautiously made her way over. She gave him a small smile, hoping to come off as friendly. He didn't return the gesture but nodded letting her know she was welcome.

"I don't think that screaming at each other will help us any," she began.

"No, probably not."

Jadeite was looking over Mercury's shoulder at the ongoing battle. Seeing as how he wasn't going to look at her anyway, she turned and stood beside him. "Our Princess, she loves him very much. We do try to explain to her that it is dangerous for her here, but she refuses to listen."

The young man appeared to understand her situation. "Our Master, he... he loves her as well. He doesn't want to see her get hurt, but at the same time, can't tell her to stay away either."

They said nothing for the next few moment, listening instead to the voices of the other six people in the room. They continued to try and place the blame on each other. "I suppose there's really nothing that either of us could have done. Now, all we can do is try to keep them out of harm's way."

Now, as she stood in the garden, looking down at Earth, she was scared. The Princess was going to Endymion and, in all probability, right into the final battle. Mercury feared for the safety of Serenity, knowing that when the time came, they may not be able to protect her.


	2. Chapter 2

The troops were as ready as they were going to be. Would it be enough? Kunzite had his doubts. He had lectured them on the best technique to use to take out the youma, while Zoisite had reminded them to keep a clear head and focus on what was happening around them.

For the time being, they were preparing themselves for battle however they saw fit. Some had taken to sparing while others had decided to meditate. They were all exceptional warriors, but Kunzite feared that they would all be dead by morning. He dared not to voice or even show this fear in any way. These men needed their morale.

He looked at the white clad figure to his left. Zoisite was biting his lower lip nervously, probably thinking the same thing. "Nephrite is late," he stated, catching Kunzite off guard. "Everyone should have returned by now."

"Hmm, you're probably right."

"We should go and find out what the problem is."

Kunzite said nothing, but walked up to one of the solders chosen to lead, a man in his mid-twenties named Aoishi. "We're going to see what the delay is, we'll return shortly."

"Yes, sir."

The two Tennou walked silently through the palace. Neither one was much for small talk, especially not when the stakes were so high. When they reached Nephrite, Kunzite went straight to the map and discovered to his dismay the change in youma numbers. "This is right?"

"Of course it's right," Nephrite shot back.

"What's the delay?" Zoisite asked.

"The team from the west has not yet returned, they're overdue by several hours now."

"The west?" Kunzite questioned, "there shouldn't be anything out there."

"I am aware of that..."

"Stop it, both of you," Zoisite said quickly and both managed to hold their tongues for the time being. "It doesn't matter if something is there or not. The army we have is already outnumbered by the main camp to the north."

He was right, if they were going to attack the camp and have the element of surprise, they would have to send the troops tonight. "Send someone out to search for them, we send the army to the north tonight."

Nephrite nodded, grudgingly accepting the situation. "Right."

"Where's Jadeite?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since earlier today."

"He's probably with the Master," Zoisite offered. "We should find them and update them on what's happening. Nephrite, stay here in case they do return."

---

Jadeite had always looked up to Endymion. In his eyes, his Master could do no wrong. Recent events however had him questioning that first assessment. He had now decided that Master could in fact make mistakes, but so did everyone else. Jadeite could hardly blame him for falling in love with the wrong person, you can't control such things.

Master Endymion had been unusually quiet. He would sit for a while, then pace the room, then sit again. Jadeite didn't know what to do or say to get him to calm down, possibly because he was feeling just as nervous.

He didn't know what to expect over the next few days. Would the palace really be attacked? Jadeite had never been in a real battle before and didn't know if he would be able to handle it. In real battle, people die, don't they?

His Master didn't want any of this to happen. All he had wanted was to live peacefully with the Princess with their two kingdom united. Why couldn't that demon Metalia go back to whatever it was that she had crawled out from?

A knock at the door started both of them. Jadeite stood and Endymion went to answer it. Kunzite and Zoisite were on the other side and their Master asked them to enter.

Jadeite didn't like the look on either of their faces. Everyone was so serious these days, it was frightening. He couldn't help but long for the days before the Princess had come into their lives.

"Metalia's forces are stronger than we thought. If were are going to attack, it must be tonight," Kunzite explained. "The recon team from the west has not returned and we are sending a second team out to look for them. Regardless of what is out there, our troops should head north as planned."

"Alright," Endymion agreed. "Are they ready?"

"As ready as they can be, Master," Zoisite answered.

Endymion sighed, obviously not looking forward to the result of this action. "Those youma out there, they used to be human..."

"They are lost to us now," Kunzite reminded him. "Once Metalia's power touched them..."

"I know. Let's see them off then."

Jadeite moved quickly to join the group of three leaving the room and followed them to gather Nephrite, who was more than happy to leave his post.

As they walked, Jadeite could help but wonder why everyone was so uneasy. Certainly these were difficult times, but we're they about to send out the army that would defeat Metalia? That was the plan, was it not? Defeat Metalia and then everything goes back to the way it was? Either no one else wanted their peaceful lives back, or no one else thought that this was going to work.

---

Venus' stomach turned at the thought of the Princess going down to Earth. She could understand that they were deeply in love, but the thought that the Princess could be hurt, or worse... It made the Senshi of Love and Beauty want to be sick.

If the attack happened while they were on Earth, they needed a plan. Venus knew that the Princess would refuse the leave Endymion's side once they were there, so getting her back to the Moon was not an option, not unless he came as well.

While Venus was not opposed to keeping Endymion safe, if he was on the Moon with the Princess, the attack would soon be focused there, and both kingdoms could be lost. Of course, if Metalia managed to take control of the Earth, she would have the people of Earth attack the Moon sooner or later. There seemed to be no way to escape this.

"We'll end up fighting alongside the Shitennou, won't we?" she asked out loud. She was not expecting the empty room to answer back.

"Would that really be a bad thing?"

"Jupiter! I didn't know you were there."

"Sorry for not speaking sooner," she apologized. "Our kingdoms were about to be united. The wedding never happened, but that doesn't mean that we should ignore each other now."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we should help Endymion and the Shitennou defend the Earth palace. The chance of success would be much higher if we do."

It was true, but Jupiter was losing sight of their mission in the hopes of seeing a good fight. "We have a duty to protect our Princess. We can't forget that and run off to fight in a hopeless battle."

"Our Princess will be in the palace, Venus," Jupiter pointed out. "If we are going to keep her safe, we fight."

Venus sighed, not wanting Jupiter to be right. Unfortunately, it would seem she was outnumbered in this.

"She's right, we should help."

Mars and Mercury stood in the doorway, Mars had spoke and Mercury had nodded her agreement. It was three-to-one.

"Metalia has turned the people of Earth against their Prince because of our Princess," Mercury explained quietly. "Even if we managed to convince the Princess to stay here, the attack will be focused here eventually. Stopping the battle before it makes it this far should be our goal."

Venus considered Mercury's words. They were true, the attack would come to the Moon once Earth was claimed. "I really don't like this."

"None of us do."

---

The troops had been energetic and upbeat when they left, which was a far cry from what Zoisite was feeling at the same moment. It was a small army, but it had been the best they could gather together in such a short time. There had never been any need for one until now.

It was now well into the night, but he knew that he wouldn't be sleeping. If Metalia was where they thought she was, Endymion's army would have reached her about an hour ago. It was not a far journey.

The one spot in the palace that held the best view of the north was the balcony off the main ballroom. Zoisite was heading up there, and he suspected that he wouldn't be alone.

His boots echoed loudly as he walked across the marble floor of the empty ballroom. Kunzite must have heard him, but did not move. He kept his gaze locked on the horizon. Once Zoisite reached the balcony as well, he see what held the first Shitennou's attention.

It was distant, but the sky far to the north was coloured bright red and orange. The colours would flash, almost like lightning and then would be gone for a moment, before another explosion caused them to return. It would almost be rather beautiful, if not for the knowledge that with each explosion, more of their men were being killed.

Zoisite noticed that Kunzite's attention would occasionally turn to his left, as if looking for something to be happening in the direction as well. "Still nothing from the west team?"

"Nor the ones we sent after them," he replied.

Another explosion to the north, this one was followed by the faintest boom. Both Tennou turned to the sound, realizing that if they were hearing it, it was getting closer. "We don't have much time," Zoisite whispered, more to himself than to Kunzite.

"One of us should go west. I don't like not knowing what's waiting for us there."

"And leave the Master? Now?" Zoisite was shocked that Kunzite was even suggesting leaving the palace.

"I'll go, I'll be back before _that_ reaches us," Kunzite gestured to the red sky.

The black haired Tennou turned and began to walk away from the balcony, but Zoisite grabbed his arm, halting him. "No, you are the best sword we have. Master needs you, we can't risk losing you to whatever claimed the first two groups. If someone must go, I will."

"You?"

"I'm a faster rider than you are, I can be back sooner."

"What's this talk about someone leaving?"

"Master!"

Endymion's face was wrought with worry and he flinched slightly with the next flash of red and orange light. Even considering leaving him at a time like this caused guilt to rise up in Zoisite. "We're sorry, Master. It's just... the uncertainty of what lies to the west is troubling."

"We should know everything about our surroundings before the fight reaches here," Kunzite explained.

Their Master nodded, but continued to question this course of action. "Couldn't we just wait until it comes here and then deal with it?"

"Depending on what that is, it could be too late by then."

"Zoisite?"

The white haired Tennou was quiet, weighing the options in his head. It would be beneficial for them to know what was out there, but they couldn't risk losing one of the Shitennou now. "Neither of us should leave, but... "

"I won't be gone long."

The decision rested with Endymion. If Kunzite did go, they could gain a strategic advantage, but at the risk of losing the most powerful of the Shitennou. Sending anyone else would also be an option, but the risk of losing them was higher. Not sending anyone would ensure they were all present for the battle, but left the uncertainty. Zoisite didn't like any of these options, no one did. Were there no others?

"Zoisite," his Master said thoughtfully, "you told me once that there was some new magic you were experimenting with..."

Zoisite nodded and spoke cautiously. "Soul Flight. A way to project my conscious somewhere else."

"You can do that?" Kunzite asked. He had never been particularly interested in magic that could not be used in a fight.

"For short periods of time, yes, but it is very draining. If I am not careful, I could deplete my energy supplies. I could be useless in a fight at best, at worst I could be unconscious for days or weeks."

Kunzite shook his head. "That's the same then as losing you out west. It still makes more sense for me to go."

Zoisite watched as Endymion looked from one to the other. Given those two choices, Zoisite would opt to take the risk of Soul Flight. It would leave Kunzite still able to fight. Even if he ran out of energy, he might still be able to tell the others what was happening.

"How long would you need to prepare?"

"An hour perhaps."

"The chances of me returning are far higher than the chances of Zoisite coming out of this and able to fight."

Endymion looked over at Zoisite, he nodded confirming that this was the case. "But I could still probably relay the information to you. Looking at the worst case scenario for each, we would be left with three Tennou who are able to fight, but in one case, we would have the information we need."

"But the chance of success is much higher for me."

"That's true."


	3. Chapter 3

The weight of this decision was heavy on Endymion's shoulders. Besides the feeling that Earth's fate was in his hands, he also felt as though he was choosing which of his friends would be sacrificed. How could he decide such a thing?

He thought about what his father would do, and knew immediately that the King would send Kunzite. Endymion knew his father well, and also knew that Kunzite was the most trusted and capable of the Shitennou. The King would not hesitate to send Kunzite.

So why was Endymion torn? He knew what his father would do, but something was holding him back from making that decision.

_Take the other path_.

"Master, we need a decision," Kunzite reminded him.

He had to choose, and he had to do it now. "Kunzite, you will stay. Zoisite, I want you to get ready."

"Yes, Master." Zoisite bowed and quickly left for the music room. Kunzite bowed as well to accept the decision then turned too look back out at the northern sky.

Endymion joined him, the bright flashes in the distance frightened him. How long before these explosions were at his front gate? "I hope I made the right decision."

"It was yours to make, Master," Kunzite replied. Endymion knew that he would not hear any more arguments about the subject from the man. The Prince's decisions were final, and he hated it.

"Will you be staying here?"

Kunzite nodded silently. Endymion, seeing that Kunzite probably wished to be alone, decided to find Nephrite and Jadeite and then go to the music room. This was not difficult, as with the approaching battle, neither would want to make themselves scarce. Endymion explain the plan to them as they walked through the hall.

"I've seen him use it once," Jadeite said, referring to the spell Zoisite was preparing. "He used it only for a couple minutes, and the result wasn't pretty."

"What happened?" Nephrite asked.

"Well, when he 'came back', I guess, he almost fell off the piano bench. Luckily he managed to stay conscious long enough to get back to his room and rest. He was not kidding when he said the spell was draining."

"But he's probably gotten used to it by now, right?" Endymion asked, hoping for some good news.

"I don't really know, I only saw it once."

They reached the closed doors of the music room and Endymion pushed them open and entered. Zoisite was seated at the piano, his eyes closed in concentration. Endymion waited patiently until the second in command of his guard was ready.

"Who was in the first recon group that went west?" the Tennou asked, his eyes still closed.

Nephrite answered, "Kawamoto and Inoue."

Zoisite began to play, but Endymion saw that something was wrong right away. The music ceased after less than a minute and Zoisite's expression was grim. "Who was in the second group?"

Endymion exchanged looks with Jadeite, worried that this meant what they thought it did.

"Ishikawa and Hiyoshi."

The same piece began again, but this time it did not end quickly like the last time. Endymion breathed a sigh of relief at this, at least they were still alive.

While Zoisite's hands continued to move over the keys, his consciousness had travelled elsewhere, to where ever Ishikawa and Hiyoshi were, Endymion assumed. Zoisite's expression was completely blank.

Remembering what Jadeite had told him earlier, Endymion couldn't help but count the minutes that Zoisite was gone. It had to be six or seven by now.

His playing faltered, the tempo of the music was no longer consistent. A few notes were missed and then the entire piece ended all together. Zoisite fell to the floor.

The other three in the room immediately ran to his side. Endymion rolled him over onto his back and called his name, hoping for some response.

He was only able to get one word out of Zoisite before he slipped into unconsciousness, and it was the last word that any of them wanted to hear.

"Metalia."

---

There was only one person who she'd ever met who hadn't seen her for the position she had been born into. He saw her not as a Princess, not as the heir to the Ginzuishou, not as a part of the Silver Millennium, but as Serenity. Just Serenity.

And she too saw him as Endymion. He was kind and gentle, fun to be around. When she would visit with him they would spend hours out in the gardens running, laughing. Being with Endymion was the greatest feeling in the world, and Serenity wasn't going to let it go.

She knew that his palace would be under attack at any time, that she was risking not only her life, but also the lives of her guardians to be with him, but that just didn't seem to matter. She needed to be at his side now. After all, this had all started because of their relationship, it would end with it as well.

Mercury seemed to be the most understanding of the Senshi and Serenity had always been closest to her. She would be content to listen to the Princess go on about the Earth Prince for hours and would not once lecture her about him.

Venus wouldn't stop with the lectures, Mars as well. While Serenity did respect their opinion, she really wished they would give up and realize that this is not going to go away. She loves Endymion, and that was that.

Jupiter would often hang out in limbo between the two sides. Sometimes agreeing with Mercury, other times with Venus and Mars. She seemed to see both sides as having valid points, but would never align herself with either one.

Serenity sighed and from her bedroom window looked down at the Earth. It would be night time where Endymion was and she could see the landmass where his Palace was located. Nothing looked out of the ordinary from the moon and Serenity wished that it was so.

She should be sleeping, but she wasn't tired and preferred to look at the blue and white orb instead. It was beautiful, either viewed from the moon or on the planet itself. Besides the fact that she could be with Endymion, Serenity also loved seeing the fields and forests that the Earth had to offer. Endymion had promised her to take her to many places after the wedding.

The wedding... When he had asked her to marry him, she had never been happier. She couldn't wait to start getting everything organized. Those plans had been put on hold soon after, the announcement had been far from welcome.

Why did everyone have to hate this union so much? Yes, it was true that it was Metalia's influence that corrupted people, but there had to be some kind of negative feeling in the person to begin with, and so many people had been affected. Serenity just didn't understand why.

The Princess left the window and got ready for bed. Tomorrow, she would be seeing Endymion, that's all that mattered.

---

The night passed and the sun rose. It would happen today, Kunzite could feel it. There was something in the air, in the wind that told him this.

The explosions had ended just before dawn. Kunzite had not left the balcony all night and when the sounds of the battle no longer reached him, he bowed his head and offered a short prayer for their fallen warriors. None would be returning.

All that remained in the Earth Palace were the most loyal of servants and a few members of the guard, a couple dozen at most. Hopefully a large part of Metalia's army had also been destroyed in the night.

Kunzite turned when he heard footsteps behind him. His Master looked as though he had not slept either. "Zoisite?"

"In his room, he's unconscious."

Kunzite closed his eyes and took a deep breath. While it was what he was expecting, it was not what he wanted to hear.

"However, he did as he said he would, he told us what he saw."

Endymion's expression was almost unreadable, and Kunzite was quite good at knowing what was going through a person's head before they even spoke. "And?"

"Metalia."

"What? She's in the west?"

"It would appear so."

While he wished that Zoisite's sacrifice had not been necessary, this was indeed good information to have. "Did he say anything else? Army strength?"

Endymion shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, no. That was the only thing he was able to tell us."

"Someone should stay with him, in case he does wake," Kunzite suggested, but Endymion had beat him to it.

"Jadeite is with him now, but will need someone to take over for him soon. I would, but..." Endymion trailed off. Kunzite knew what his Master would be busy with and did not hide the fact that it disappointed him.

"She's coming today, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"You do realize that Metalia will likely attack today as well. We should be preparing for that."

"I know."

Kunzite nodded, having felt defeat in this topic many times before. "I will watch over Zoisite for the next few hours."

"Thank you, Kunzite."

He bowed and then started on his way to Zoisite's room. He could use the time to meditate before the battle, so it wasn't as though the act would be a bother for him.

He knocked at the door and heard Jadeite's voice tell him to come in. Zoisite's room was much like his own, only the colour scheme was different and sheets of music littered the floor. Some were blank, others had notes scrawled over them. Some had long lines stroked through them, marking them as being no good.

Jadeite had a seat set up near the bed, but had stood when Kunzite entered. He too looked exhausted.

"I'll take over, you should get some rest."

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep," he replied, though the yawn that followed indicated to Kunzite that that might not be the case.

"Try. You'll need your rest," Kunzite said, before nodding towards Zoisite. "Has there been any change?"

"No. It's like he's in a really deep sleep. I tried to wake him a few times, but there was nothing."

Kunzite nodded and exchanged places with Jadeite, the younger of the two grabbing his things before leaving. Kunzite sat in the chair and looked the white haired man over carefully.

He did look as though he was sleeping. His eyes closed, his breathing was deep and regular. One arm lay at his side, the other felt across his stomach, his head was turned slightly to the side, facing Kunzite.

"You are an idiot," Kunzite said, knowing he wasn't going to be heard. "I could have made it back in time."

---

Butterflies fluttered in Jupiter's stomach as she and the other Sailor Senshi waited for their Princess to be ready. Serenity was doing a last minute check in the mirror before the five of them teleported to Earth. It wasn't the possibility of being thrown into a battle that had Jupiter worried, she could fight, it was the prospect of the Princess being thrown into the same situation. Serenity would not be able to defend herself.

When the Princess emerged from her rooms, she appeared oblivious to the gloomy air surrounding the guardians. Happily announcing that she was ready to go. She stood in the middle of the four while the Senshi invoked a group teleport to take them to Earth.

It was always a little strange and took Jupiter a few moments to get her orientation back when they arrived. The first thing she noticed was that the sky above them was not it's normal blue, but a dark grey. It did not feel like an approaching storm, however.

"Endymion!" the happy voice of the Princess called as she ran over to where the Earth Prince was waiting. They had arrived just outside the main entrance of the palace as they normally did, but the normal 'welcoming' party, Endymion's own guardians, were mostly missing. Only Nephrite was present.

Endymion smiled down at the Princess, albeit sadly. He looked up at the Senshi and Jupiter, along with her companions bowed politely. "Things are a little tense here right now, I must apologize," the Prince said. "I will have Nephrite update you on the situation."

Jupiter turned her attention to the red clad Shitennou. "Follow me," he said gruffly as entered the palace and started down one of the many halls. Jupiter hurried to follow as he walked quickly.

They were led to a room with a table in the centre. A map of the land surrounding the palace was laid out on it. Jupiter quickly took note of the figures on the map, "it's this bad?"

"It was as of last night," Nephrite replied, annoyed to have to explain everything to the new comers. "We sent the army to the north to attack what we believed at the time was Metalia and the largest concentration of youma. We discovered later that Metalia herself is actually to the west."

The black figure representing Metalia did indeed sit to the west of the palace on the map, but there were very few youma around it. "Why so few youma? It would not be difficult to take out that many." Venus commented.

Nephrite's eyes narrowed at the Senshi's leader, "we know _now_ that Metalia is there. We do not know how many youma are actually present."

"How is that possible? Did the person you send not know how to count?"

"You don't have a clue as to what's going on!" Nephrite yelled, finally losing his temper. Jupiter tried not to wince at the sudden volume of his voice.

Mercury stepped forward, indicating to the other Senshi that they should let her handle this. "You're right, we don't know what has been happening, and I apologize for all of us. Please, can you bring us up-to-date?."

Mercury always did have a calming voice, and it seemed to work on Nephrite especially well. He began to explain what had happened, but spoke to Mercury, rather than the group. "Last night, three of our four recon teams reported on the youma numbers to the north, south, and east. When the team from the west did not return, we sent a second team out in search for them. They too did not return.

"Zoisite used a spell to see what was happening, or something like that. He told us that he saw Metalia and then he passed out. We haven't been able to wake him since.

"Most of the army had been sent to the north already by then, and none have returned. We assume they are all dead."

No one spoke for a moment while they digested this information. They were down to only three of the Shitennou and not many other soldiers. This did not look good at all.

"I see," Mercury said, continuing to speak for the group. "Where are Jadeite and Kunzite?"

"Kunzite is watching over Zoisite in case he wakes. As far as I know, Jadeite is resting."

Jupiter decided to ask the question on everyone's mind, and spoke as softly as she could. She did not know the Shitennou well, but Nephrite's temper was legend. "When do you think Metalia will attack?"

Nephrite's eyebrows furrowed, as though he had forgotten that the other Senshi were still present, but he looked at Jupiter and answered her question. "It could be within hours."

Jupiter really didn't like the sound of that. "Hours..." she repeated quietly to herself. The palace could be attacked at any time.

"Now," Nephrite said, "if you don't mind, I have a battle to prepare for."

He turned to leave the room, but Venus' voice stopped him. "Wait! We are going to help."

"What?"


	4. Chapter 4

Despite how tired he felt, he couldn't sleep. The thought of fighting, really fighting, frightened him and images of what could happen flooded his mind. People die in battle. He could die, his friends, Master Endymion...

Jadeite rolled over on his side, thankful that no one would see the tears or hear the quiet sobs. He felt ashamed for letting himself cry. He was supposed to be one of the Shitennou, was he not? He wrapped his arms around himself, the room suddenly felt very cold.

No. The room _was_ very cold. Jadeite sat up and went to the window. It was only late afternoon, but it was dark as night outside. It was frightening...

The door to his room was flung open, no time left for the courtesy of knocking. "Jadeite, let's go," Kunzite's voice ordered.

Jadeite left his room quickly, having to jog down the hall to keep up with Kunzite. "Zoisite?" the younger of the two asked.

"No change."

Kunzite lead him to what had become their base of operations over the last view days. Nephrite was already there and had his sword sheathed at his belt. Kunzite handed Jadeite the weapons he had been the most proficient with, a pair of small daggers. They were not as effective as a sword, but allowed him his speed. Kunzite attached his own sword and then looked at the one weapon which had yet to find it's owner; a white and silver curved short sword.

Finally Jadeite noticed that it was not just three Tennou in the room, but his Master, the Princess, and her guardians were all present as well. Jadeite had thought that they would leave as soon as the war reached the palace.

"My Senshi will be helping you fight," Serenity explained. "Our kingdoms were going to be united, and united we will be."

"Kunzite will be in charge of defending the palace," Endymion said and then gestured to the leader of the Shitennou, indicating that he had the floor.

The map that had been spread across the table was removed and a new one, this one of the palace and its grounds alone now took its place. "We should be expecting most of the attack to focus on the north and west sides. We know Metalia is in the west, but we do not know how well protected she is. The large numbers of youma to the north could simply be a diversion, or there could be even more than we imagined in the west.

"We will break into two groups. Jadeite, Nephrite, Mars, and Mercury, you four will take the north, while Venus, Jupiter, and I will take the west. We will send what troops and servants who wish to fight to the south and east sides. Should anyone see Metalia herself, they will signal the others with these." Kunzite held four small cylindrical tubes in his hand, two of which he handed to Nephrite. "Light them, then stand back. They work like fireworks."

Jadeite keep his eyes on Kunzite. Their leader was taking a moment before continuing and his eyes kept drifting to Zoisite's sword, which currently lay on the table along with a folded piece of paper. "I don't know how long we have been they attack, but I would recommend that we use whatever time we have to get used to each other's fighting styles."

This made sense to Jadeite and the other Senshi and Nephrite also agreed that this was a good idea. Kunzite then picked up the spare sword as well as the paper. "Jadeite, Nephrite, Master. May we have a word together, alone?"

Endymion looked at Serenity, and she nodded, likely wanting to speak to her own guardians as well. The girls moved to one side of the room, while Jadeite followed his Master to the other. Kunzite held the sword and paper towards Endymion.

"None of can sit around waiting for him any longer, Master. Can you please take these to his room, in case he does wake?"

Endymion accepted the two items with a nod. "Of course."

"After you do that Master, promise me you will stay inside the palace. Don't come out and try to help us."

"I promise. I plan to keep Serenity as safe as I can." Endymion placed a hand on Kunzite's shoulder. "Good luck, to all of you," he added.

Jadeite looked over at the Senshi and saw that they too were almost finished. It was time.

---

Princess Serenity appeared to be the most optimistic person in the room, Mars observed. Even with the solemn air in the room, she still managed to smile. "I wish you all well," she said.

"Princess, please be careful. Stay close to Endymion... I can't believe I just said that," Venus added under her breath, but loud enough for the Princess to hear.

Serenity didn't mind. Venus was finally asking her to do the one thing she wanted to do. "Don't worry about me. I won't leave his side. Thank you, all of you, for coming here."

"Princess," all four replied in unison.

Mars looked over at the four men on the other side of the room. They were waiting.

While it made sense that Kunzite was in charge of this mission, and he had certainly shown himself capable, the Senshi of Fire did wish that they had gotten more of a say in how this would play out. Kunzite had briefly spoken with Venus regarding the strength and weaknesses of the Senshi in order to plan the two groups, but that had been the extent of the Senshi's participation.

The teams seemed balanced enough, from what little Mars knew of the Shitennou. She also agreed with using what little time they may have left to get to know each other's fighting styles, and so she took the initiative and lead the way over to the other group of guardians. "Shall we?"

"Mm," Nephrite said in the affirmative, motioning for Jadeite. Mercury had joined the North team as well and they left the room first, Nephrite leading the way.

Few words were spoken as they made their way outside the palace. Mars glanced at Mercury a few times, but she too seemed unsure of what to do or say other than to follow the Tennou.

Once outside, the entire group noticed that it had gotten even darker outside. The evil aura in the air almost made Mars sick, it was so strong. She felt her knees become weak and almost fell.

"Are you alright?" Mercury asked.

Mars nodded in response. "It's very strong..."

"She has the ability to sense things other cannot," Mercury explained to a confused pair of Tennou. "Metalia's evil is giving off a strong aura."

"Can you pinpoint it exactly? How close is she?" Nephrite asked.

"No... It's like it's all around us. It's suffocating..."

"You better be able to fight," he said, more rudely than he needed it.

"Oh, I can fight. Probably better than you," Mars retorted, taking a step towards the redhead.

"Mars, this is not the time," Mercury said, stepping in front of her. "Both of you," she added, looking over her shoulder. Mercury always did have a calming effect on those around her, no matter what the situation was. She seemed to be especially effective on Nephrite, Mars noted. He backed down immediately.

"Good, now, we probably don't have long. So, without wasting any energy we'll surely need later, what can we all do?"

---

"Fine, so you can use your powers to hit youma from a distance, what about at close range?"

Venus wasn't particularly pleased with the high-and-mighty attitude coming from the Shitennou's leader. As soon as they were in position, he started questioning their powers and acting as though he was terribly unimpressed.

"We can fight, if that's what you're asking," Jupiter shot back at him.

"Hm, is that so?" he asked. Without warning he shot a fist at Jupiter's face. Venus couldn't help but smile when the Senshi was not only able to dodge quickly, but was also able to grab and hold his arm. Kunzite raised an eyebrow.

"Satisfied?" Venus asked when Jupiter released her grip.

Kunzite turned and faced the second guardian. "Hardly," he replied, "but you'll have to do."

She was letting him get to her, she had to learn to ignore him. Kunzite was known to be an excellent warrior and strategist, but was also known to be a real bastard. Especially towards anyone from the Silver Millennium.

"And what about you," Jupiter asked. "Please tell us you can do more than wave that little stick around." She gestured to the sword he held in his hand.

Kunzite was suddenly on the other side of someone's scrutiny, a position he didn't seem to be entirely familiar with. Jupiter had made a valid point however, and Kunzite realized this. He had yet to explain any of his own powers or abilities.

"I have energy attacks, similar to your own. I can also absorb or reflect such attacks," he explained, then as an after thought, "and, I 'wave my little stick around.'"

Venus was having trouble holding a straight face, but Jupiter was still acting stern. "You'll have to do," she mimicked.

Studying the Tennou, Venus realized something. He was no longer looking at them in a condescending way. '_We proved our worth to him,'_ she thought, even though she hated having to prove herself to anyone, this was a good sign. _'He sees us as equals now_.'

Her personal celebration was cut short by a distant rumble, the others heard it as well. In the distance, what looked like a low dark cloud was approaching. It was not a cloud however, it was the advancing youma army. An aura of darkness seeming to radiate from each one.

Venus took a few steps forward to stand on Kunzite's right while Jupiter was on his left. It would be a few minutes yet before the youma were within range of their attacks. "So this is it..."

---

"Youma Taisan!"

"Mercury Aqua Mist!"

Two things immediately struck Nephrite as odd when the Senshi sent their first wave of attacks at the advancing youma army. The first was that they called out their attacks verbally. The second was that their attacks had a much farther range than anything any of the Shitennou had. He looked over at Jadeite, who appeared to be just as surprised.

It had been assumed that the army to the north had perhaps three hundred youma, it was certainly smaller than that now. Nephrite counted just over one hundred and falling thanks to the Senshi. Perhaps their men had not died in vain after all.

The youma were just about in range for an attack. Nephrite closed his eyes and concentrated on creating a ball of explosive energy. When he felt that it was ready, he opened his eyes and fired it at the youma mass, causing a large explosion.

Mars turned to him in surprise. "Messy, but effective," she commented.

"I'm not here to look pretty," he retorted, preparing the next volley. He heard a second explosion, indicating that Jadeite too had sent a similar burst. It did not take the four of them long to reduce the youma to a couple dozen.

"That's it?" Jadeite asked, striking one of the last monsters with his dagger.

"That was too easy," Mars said, looking to Mercury who also agreed. "Besides, the evil I felt earlier has not dissipated."

"So, then..." Mercury was cut off by a loud bang from above. All four looked to the sky and saw a bright red signal flare, fired from the west side of the palace. There was a momentary pause while all four realized what this was before they broken into a run.

_'Metalia...'_ She was in the west, just like Zoisite had said, and now she was here. While the thought of a more difficult battle excited Nephrite, he also feared what he would find when he turned the upcoming corner. What had Kunzite and the other girls been facing?

There were youma, many more than what any of them had thought possible. Five, six hundred? Nephrite didn't know. Most of them were remaining out of range of any attack and a smaller group had advanced on the three guardians. These youma were different from the ones he had just fought. They were stronger, smarter, and had a dark glow surrounding them.

"These youma are controlled directly by Metalia," Mars observed. "We have to help them!"

The two Senshi rushed forward into the fight. They could not use their powers on youma at such a close range without risking injury to themselves or the others.

Venus and Jupiter were already slowing, this fight having already taken much out of them. Kunzite appeared to still have much of his strength, but Nephrite noted that he now held his sword in his left hand.

"Nephrite," Jadeite's voice called him back from his thoughts. He had been watching for far too long.

"Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

Once the two sets of guardians had left, Serenity was alone with Endymion. He immediately pulled her close and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "We'll get through this," he said to her after they parted.

"I know we will," she replied, smiling. She nuzzled against him, happy to be close. Serenity didn't know how long they remained like that, but it was Endymion who gently broke the embrace.

He looked down at the items he still held in his hand then back to the Princess. He looked apologetic. "I need to take this to Zoisite," he explained.

Serenity was more than understanding. After all, he felt the same way for his guardians as she did for hers. She nodded and smiled then took hold of his other hand and allowed him to lead her down the hall. She had been to the Earth palace on many occasions, but it was enormous and she did know know her way around all of it.

It took a few minutes before they arrived at Zoisite's chambers. Endymion, apparently out of habit, reached his hand up to knock, but then stopped and shook his head. He reached for the door knob instead and pushed the door open.

Serenity had never seen the inside of any man's bedroom before, not even Endymion's. Not that she hadn't wanted too, but they had both agreed for a variety of reasons to wait until after the wedding. Theirs had not been been a typical courtship to begin with.

Serenity stayed outside the door, and Endymion noted her hesitation. "I'll just be a minute," he said, before going through a second door, which Serenity assumed lead to Zoisite's bedroom. He left the door open and stayed within sight of her, for which she was grateful.

Looking around the outer room cautiously she saw that it was kept relativity tidy. A few colourful sheets of paper were scattered over the floor as if the wind had blown them off a table. One piece was close enough that she could see the notes scrawled on it. She remembered Endymion mentioning that one of his guardians played the piano.

"Snap out of this. I need you, Zoisite," came Endymion's quiet voice from the next room. He was knelt on the floor, presumably beside the bed, though it was not in view. Serenity's thoughts drifted to what she would be feeling if it was one of her Senshi in the same situation. She did care about her guardians, even though she felt she was forcing them to fight in this battle. She didn't want to see any of them get hurt, but if she and Endymion were going to be together, Metalia had to be stopped.

"Are you alright?" Endymion asked, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

Serenity was about to tell him that she was fine, until she heard what sounded, and felt, like an explosion. The lamps that hung from the ceiling shook slightly with the vibration. "Endymion..."

He grabbed her hand in his and began to lead her quickly back down the hallway they had come from. "This way."

---

These youma were completely different from the ones they had faced earlier, Mercury noted. Metalia's presence was almost overwhelming.

She had managed to take out many of them, but they were stronger than the first ones and more of them were making it to her than she could easily deal with.

One other thing made it difficult for Mercury to harm the youma, and that was the fact that not all of them had completely transformed yet. Some of them still had obvious human characteristics, some still wore the uniform of the Earth palace guard.

The blue haired Senshi knew what she had been told, that these men were beyond their help. That nothing could be done for them. She didn't want to believe it, but they were attacking her and the other guardians, and they would attack her Princess if given the chance. Mercury had to fight back.

She was beginning to tire, however. Her attacks no long had the same distance, nor strength. She was starting to take more hits than she could deliver, and she was not alone. They were all starting to wear down and the youma army seemed almost endless.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" She yelled as yet another wave of blue energy struck the monsters. This had barely enough power to push the one youma back a meter before giving out. Her powers were drained and suddenly her legs felt weak. She would have fallen if an arm hadn't caught her around the waist and held her up.

"Stay with it," a man's voice told her. She recognized it as Kunzite's.

She managed to force herself to stand and as soon as she had her footing, he released her and continued to cut down any youma that came his way. '_They're just trying to tire us out,_' she realized. Fewer youma were attacking now as more stood farther back and out of the way. '_They could easily swarm us and kill us in an instant, but they don't_.'

Mercury looked around the battle field for her fellow Senshi. Jupiter was still going strong, she was no longer using her magical attacks, but she could managed fine on the physical end.

Venus and Mars fought close together, but they too were looking almost as fatigued as Mercury felt. Mars was still managing to toss a few ofuda scrolls, which did successfully paralyse the youma while Venus was able to finish them with her chain. Their team up had been working well for them, but they too were tiring.

Nephrite, like Kunzite, was having some success with a sword. Jadeite as well, though he had slowed considerably. Mercury also noticed that he was having trouble killing any youma who still looked mostly human, preferring to push them away from him. Mercury realized that the Shitennou would be having more difficulty with these particular youma, as they had known the original human at one time.

Then, suddenly, the youma ceased their attack. Some even backed away a few steps, as if some inaudible order had been given. They had been told to stop.

Mercury glanced around quickly and found Jupiter to be the closest Senshi to her. She slowly made her way to stand beside the tallest of the four.

---

Jupiter hardly noticed Mercury step up beside her. She was too busy trying to figure out what had just happened. The youma had stopped attacking and were backing away. Why? Had one of them done something to scare them? A quick look around told Jupiter that everyone else was as confused as she was.

A flicker of light caught the brunette's attention. Just in front of them, and in front of all the youma a woman appeared. She had bright, flame red hair, and wore a tight, form-fitting purple dress. A crown and shoulder ornaments also adorned her figure. Jupiter had never seen her before, but the Shitennou seemed to recognize her.

"Beryl..."

Beryl. Jupiter knew the name. The name of the woman who had awakened Metalia to begin with. The one who had started it all.

"You must be tired," she said. Her voice had an almost soothing sound to it. "Fighting these youma for several hours straight must be very draining."

"What do you want?" Jupiter found herself asking. The tone of this woman's voice made her feel uneasy.

Beryl turned to Jupiter and eyed her a moment before speaking. "Only to have Endymion by my side when I rule this planet."

Kunzite had slowly made his way over to Mercury and Jupiter by this point. If Beryl had noticed, she didn't seem to care. He spoke to Mercury, but Jupiter could hear his words as well. "Take the Senshi and find your Princess and our Master. Get them out of here."

"We can still fight." Jupiter stated quietly.

"Not for much longer," the Shitennou's leader hissed back. "We'll hold her off as long as we can. Go!"

She wanted to argue. Gods knew she wanted to argue with him, but she also knew that this was not the time nor place. As he was in charge of this mission. Jupiter forced herself to swallow her pride and took a few steps back, motioning for Venus and Mars to do the same.

Beryl had noticed, but it was strange that she didn't seem to care. She seemed much more interested in the three men that stood before her than the Senshi. Mars and Venus had made their way over to Jupiter and Mercury by this point, and Jupiter quickly whispered their orders.

Venus agreed that they should find Endymion and their Princess. While keeping an eye on Beryl, the began to back away towards the palace. When it was obvious that she couldn't care less what they did, the Senshi ran.

"I hate retreating like this!" said Mars when they reach the palace entrance.

"Our Princess has always been our main concern," Venus reminded all of them.

---

"And where are they going?" Beryl asked, looking at Kunzite. The eldest Shitennou refused an answer and she didn't appear to take kindly to this.

Jadeite felt strange when he looked at this woman. He almost felt drawn to her in some way. She was beautiful, that much was certain, but there was something else as well.

'_No_,' he silenced his own thoughts. This woman was the reason so much of the planet was destroyed. She was the reason he was forced to fight and kill men he's know for years. No, they were no longer men, but they had been once. Some still carried their weapons.

Beryl seemed to have decided to let the matter drop for now. "Do you believe that you three can defeat the youma army I have here now?" she asked. The army was indeed massive. All this fighting and they had barely managed to put a dint in it. "And I have more. With Metalia's power, I was able to convert thousands of humans."

"You lie!" This came from Nephrite.

"Do I?" she asked, taking a step towards him. "Do you doubt Metalia's power? Surely you see the power she has given me." She had continued her advance and now stood just out of reach of Nephrite's sword. He could easily step forward and end this, but he didn't and Jadeite knew why. Nephrite was feeling the same thing that he was.

Beryl raised her hand and touched the tip of the blade he held, gently pushing it out of her way. Jadeite never noticed how tall this woman was, she was the same height as the tallest of the Tennou. When she stepped right up to Nephrite, she almost seemed taller.

Jadeite watched as she leaned forward, raising a hand to Nephrite's cheek, but never touching it. "I can give you a taste of this power..." she whispered to him, but loud enough for Jadeite to hear.

Anger started the build in the youngest of the four, his eyes narrowed at the display in front of him. It was anger he felt, but it was not directed at Beryl, it was focus solely on Nephrite. Anger mixed with jealousy. He wanted to be where Nephrite was now, to have Beryl's body so close to his. As close as she could get without actually touching him. No, he wanted her closer.

"Nephrite!" Kunzite's voice broke the spell and Nephrite stumbled backwards, away from the red haired woman. He brought his sword back up, intent on keeping this new distance from Beryl. He looked shocked.

Jadeite too felt shock as the negative emotions he had been feeling vanished. What had caused that in him? The feelings had been so strong and real. He never wanted to feel like that again.

Beryl appeared satisfied with this and turned to Kunzite. "You are their leader, are you not?" she asked, approaching him now as she had Nephrite. "You can see that you have no chance against this army. I offer you a way out of this." She extended a hand towards the Shitennou leader and his sword hand wavered. "You can serve me, and feel Metalia's power for yourself..."

It looked to Jadeite as though Kunzite were falling under the same spell that had claimed Nephrite earlier. His sword had lowered and his eyes had lost that strength and focus they normally held. As Beryl continued to advance however, something came back. His eyes locked on her and his sword thrust forward, the tip of the blade stopping just short of Beryl's throat. "Over my dead body," was his reply.

The fact that Kunzite was strong enough to fight her seemed to surprise Beryl at first, but then her eyes grew dark as she backed away from his reach. "So be it."

Her hand reached out quickly and a mass of dark purple energy was released from it, but it was not aimed at any of the Tennou. Instead the energy hit the side of the palace, which exploded in a shower of marble and stone. Jadeite didn't even have time to register what part of the palace had been hit, only that most of it was falling directly over head.


	6. Chapter 6

After visiting with Zoisite and hearing the first of many explosions, Endymion had grabbed hold of Serenity's hand and lead her quickly through the palace. "I need to find my father," he explained. "I need to make sure that he is safe."

They searched in every area of the palace that Endymion imagined that his father might be. The throne room, his private chambers, even the library and various balconies where he could sometimes be found, but there was nothing. It was as though his father did not want to be found.

"Damnit, where is he?" Endymion asked out loud, momentarily forgetting to watch his tongue in Serenity's presence. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "No, it's alright. Perhaps he escaped?"

"He wouldn't leave his palace," Endymion explained, frustrated. They were currently in the ballroom and the balcony facing north was too tempting for Endymion. He needed to see what was happening with the Shitennou.

He looked at Serenity, and she nodded silently. Surely worried about her own Senshi as well. Together they cautiously stepped out and onto the balcony and looked out. The land was scorched and some fires burned. The sky was still black. Endymion reached an arm around Serenity's shoulder's reassuringly.

None of the guardians could be seen, even though four of them had been stationed at the north end of the palace. There were no youma either, so Endymion figured they must have gone to the west side. Looking to his left, he could see nothing. The palace itself blocking his view of anything that might be happening.

The halls on the west side did have large windows, and Endymion fully intended to head there next. But just as he and Serenity stepped back into the ballroom, they were met by Venus and Mars.

"Princess! We must go!"

"I'm not leaving Endymion," Serenity stated, reaching out and holding onto his arm protectivly.

"We're taking both of you to the Moon," Venus explained. "But we must move quickly."

Serenity agreed to this and the four made their way for the central courtyard. "Mercury and Jupiter will be able to see us from there and know that we found you," said Mars.

"What of my Shitennou?" Endymion asked.

"They are holding Beryl off while we get you to the Moon."

"And Zoisite?"

"We haven't seen him."

Endymion slowed his pace. He did not want to leave Zoisite behind, not when he couldn't defend himself.

The three women who accompanied him all stopped and turned, it was Venus who spoke. "I'm sorry, but we don't have time. I'm sure the other Tennou haven't forgot about him. Besides he would not want you risking your own life to save his."

She was right, Endymion knew this. He still couldn't help but feel like he was abandoning his friends.

"Endymion?" Serenity asked. She would follow him no matter what he decided, and he didn't need her staying on Earth any longer than she needed to.

"Let's go," he agreed.

The courtyard was large and was surrounded by the Earth Palace on all sides. While they waited for the last to Senshi to see that they were ready and join them, Endymion turned and faced west. He could see nothing, and the silence he heard also worried him. No explosions, no clang of weapons, nothing.

It only took a minute before Jupiter and Mercury appeared and joined the group. They took a moment to inquire into the Princess' well being, before an impatient Venus told them once again that they needed to leave.

It was then that a large chunk of the west side of the palace exploded, sending debris flying. Endymion watched in horror as that part of the palace fell. He knew his home well and he knew exactly which rooms had been lost.

"Zoisite!" But his scream was lost to the teleport, and the next thing he knew, he was on the Moon.

---

Kunzite knew the falling debris of the Earth Palace would hit them, but he couldn't will his legs to move. All he could do was stare at the large pieces of marble and stone which would kill all of them in a moment. That moment never came.

The debris stopped in mid-air. No, Kunzite saw, it was in fact an energy barrier that held the stone in place directly above their heads.

"Move!"

He didn't need to be told twice, and his legs finally seemed able to work again. As soon as he and the other Tennou were clear, the barrier gave out and resounding crash was heard, the debris falling between the Tennou and Beryl. The barrier's creator fell to his knees, exhausted.

"Zoisite?"

Zoisite looked up at Kunzite with tired eyes, but managed a small nod. Jadeite and Nephrite rushed to his side and helped him stand, but once he was up he insisted that he could stand on his own. He motioned towards the pile of rubble, "I think we should go."

Kunzite turned and sure enough the youma army was once again advancing, some climbing over the rubble, some moving around it.

"The girls should have our Master on the Moon by now," Nephrite offered. "This palace is lost."

Kunzite nodded. He hated it, but Nephrite was right. There was no sense in losing their lives in defence of an empty and now damaged building. Teleporting to the Moon from their present location was out of the question. It would take too long to invoke the teleport, especially in their current conditions. The youma would be on top of them. "Let's move," Kunzite ordered.

All four were able to run, though some slower than others. Regardless, they could still easily outrun the youma. Putting distance between themselves and the monsters would not be difficult. Or so Kunzite thought until he heard an arrow whiz by his head. It was followed by others.

He would have yelled for the other Tennou to pick up the pace, but a cry from Nephrite stopped him. The red-head fell forward, landing on his hands and knees. One of the royal guards' own arrows protruding from the back of his right shoulder.

Kunzite looked back quickly and saw two youma who had positioned themselves on top of the debris, the one reloading its bow Kunzite recognized as Aoishi, the man he had placed in charge of the strike against Metalia. Aoishi had been changed, and was barely recognizable. Kunzite knew the man no longer existed.

"Nephrite, are you alright? Can you stand?" Jadeite was asking. He had knelt down and was offering his own shoulders for Nephrite's support.

Nephrite accepted and grunted in pain as he stood. The wound was not serious, but it would be painful. They would have to wait until he was on the Moon to treat him, however. Now was not the time. "We need to move!" Kunzite yelled.

---

Venus watched silently as Endymion stared at his own planet, his back turned to everyone. She knew he wept, and did not wish for others to see, especially not the Princess. "Let him have a moment," she heard Mercury whisper to the Princess when she tried to go to his side. The Princess only meant well, Venus knew.

She had only seen Zoisite on a few occasions when they had visited Earth prior to the battle. Never had they truly spoken, only exchanging hostile words with their fellow guardians. She could not grieve for a man she did not know, but she did feel regret for him in that it was not a death he would have wanted. Like her, he would have wanted to die protecting his Prince.

Venus watched as Endymion forced himself to stand straight and whip the tears from his eyes before turning around. The Princess immediately went to him and tentatively took his hand, asking if he would like to go inside the palace. He agreed and she lead him away from the Senshi.

Venus remained where she was, facing Earth. The blue planet was still covered in darkness and Venus knew it would not be long before that darkness would seek out the Moon as well.

"So what happens now?" Jupiter asked from behind the Senshi leader.

"We plan," Venus stated. "Metalia will be looking to us now that she had claimed Earth. We need to be ready."

"Do we even have enough time to do that?" Mars asked.

"I think we will," Mercury answered. "Metalia and Beryl will want time to reorganize themselves and their army before coming here."

"Makes sense," Jupiter commented.

Venus turned finally to face the other Senshi. She needed to be a leader now, more than ever. "Let's get inside and get a plan set up."

The other three nodded and all four began to head for the palace, but Mars stopped suddenly and turned. Venus followed her line of vision and was surprised by what she saw.

The Shitennou, all four of them, appeared in front of the Senshi, and one of them was injured. Mercury immediately ran forward to help and the other Senshi were not far behind. Venus had truly believed that Zoisite was dead, and that such a fate had likely befallen the others as well. Seeing that this was not the case brought her a sense of relief.

"We need to sit him down somewhere," Zoisite said. His voice was weak, but he seemed strong enough.

"This way," Mercury said, indicating the nearest stone bench in the garden.

It didn't look like he was bleeding much, but that could be the colour of his uniform hiding it, Venus thought. She didn't know if she could help, but stood nearby in case she was needed. "We have a physician," she offered.

"Does your physician often see wounds such as this?" Zoisite asked, as he examined Nephrite's shoulder himself.

"No," she relented, watching as Zoisite's gloves came away stained crimson.

"It wasn't poisoned, was it?' Nephrite asked, sounding surprisingly well considering.

"No. It was one of our arrows, and I don't think those youma were particularly apt with poisons."

"Good."

---

The world had been spinning when he first regained consciousness, and it had taken him some time to remember what was happening.

After reading the note from Kunzite and grabbing his dagger, Zoisite had stumbled towards the nearest exit, using the walls for support.

He had seen Beryl attempt to seduce both Nephrite and Kunzite, but he had not been noticed. When he created the barrier to stop the falling rock, he had surprised himself. He had not been expecting to have such energy sources available to him.

He still felt incredibly weak now, but as they were safe for the moment, he didn't mind. His immediate concern was getting this arrow out of Nephrite.

"I'm going to need something to bandage two wounds," he said to Mercury. She had been the closest and seemed the most eager to help. "Long strips of cloth if you can."

"Two wounds?" she asked. "There is only the one, is there not?"

"There will be two."

Mercury seemed to realize then what Zoisite needed to do to remove the arrow and ran off quickly to find the bandages.

"It's that far through, is it?" Nephrite asked, having overheard Zoisite's instructions.

"The arrow is obviously pinning your jacket in place," Zoisite explained. "Once I remove it, we'll need to remove the jacket quickly and bandage the wounds."

"Right," the injured party replied, obviously not looking forward to this.

Zoisite sat himself on the bench beside Nephrite and took another look at the arrow. "I'm going to break off the fletching now."

Nephrite nodded and closed his eyes to brace himself. Zoisite grabbed hold of the arrow as steadily as he could and broke the tail off quickly, resulting in a pained cry from Nephrite. A gasp came from one of the girls as well, though Zoisite did not note which one. "You're doing fine," he tried to reassure Nephrite.

"Just get the damned thing out of me."

"I will after Mercury returns with the bandages. I won't have you bleeding everywhere."

It took a few more minutes, but the blue haired Senshi returned with the requested items. Serenity and Endymion trailed behind her. Zoisite was glad to see that his Master was unharmed, but returned his attention to Nephrite.

Zoisite undid the clasps holding Nephrite's jacket closed, doing his best to keep the fabric from moving the arrow too much. Nephrite's breathing was quick and Zoisite could easily feel his heart pounding in his chest as he pushed the jacket flap aside. He would never admit it, but he was scared.

Zoisite caught Kunzite's eye and then looked to Nephrite's left, silently telling Kunzite what to do. The elder man knew what was needed and stood on the other side of Nephrite, waiting for Zoisite to give the word.

There were several sets of eyes on them, and Zoisite was aware of this. "You probably won't want to watch this," he stated.

A couple of the girls did turn their eyes to the ground then and Serenity decided to bury her head in Endymion's chest. Only Venus seemed to believe that she could handle it and met Zoisite's gaze for a moment. She seemed to have a strange determination in her eyes, like this was some kind of test she needed to pass. If she wanted to watch, that was her decision.

Zoisite nodded to Kunzite and he grabbed Nephrite's uninjured shoulder while Zoisite held his arm. Their grip was tight in order to keep the other man still. Moving quickly, Zoisite gripped what remained of the arrow shaft and pushed it through as quickly as he could.

Kunzite was quick and removed the arrow on the other side before Nephrite had even registered anything. It would have been painful and he did scream, but it was done and over with. Working together quickly, they finished removing his jacket and started bandaging Nephrite's shoulder. Now that the arrow was out, his blood wanted to flow freely from the wounds.

"Damnit, that hurt!" Nephrite exclaimed when he finally found his voice again.

"It wasn't supposed to feel nice," Kunzite replied.

They had managed to finished wrapping Nephrite's shoulder when Zoisite finally decided to address the other injured party. "Let me see your arm," he said addressing Kunzite.

Kunzite looked surprised that Zoisite had even noticed that he too had been injured. "It's not that bad."

"It's bad enough that you can't wield your sword with it."

Zoisite had managed to strike a chord with Kunzite, implying that his ability to fight would be hampered. He was right, and Kunzite knew it. "I'll take care of it myself," he grumbled.


	7. Chapter 7

Mercury didn't understand the stubbornness of Nephrite and Kunzite. They both refused to see the Moon Palace's physician, even though Nephrite's injury was serious, given the current circumstances. His shoulder was bandaged and his arm was in a sling, rendering his sword hand useless. Kunzite's injury was less severe, but still worrisome considering the impending attack.

Despite their protests, Mercury had insisted on helping the two of them in any way that she could. She would not be as well trained as the doctor, but did have basic medical knowledge. Nephrite required rest, and she had made sure that he had a room, a bed, and that he remained in both for a while. "You won't be helping anyone if you strain yourself. You should rest until we need you," she had told him.

Kunzite was a more difficult matter. True, the wound on his arm was minor, but it was causing him some difficulty. Mercury watched as he practised his swordplay, his face showing the discomfort he felt when he swung the weapon.

She shook her head. Were all Earth men this hard-headed? '_If he isn't careful he's going to..._' a pained cry from the Shitennou leader drew her from her thoughts and the crash of his sword on the stone ground made her cringe. He was holding his injured forearm and Mercury ran over to see what had happened.

"It's nothing," he snapped at her before she could even speak.

Blood was seeping through the fresh bandages she had applied not long before. "You've re-opened your wound," she stated. "You should be taking it easy."

"I told you that it was nothing."

"Let me take a look at it," Mercury said softly, hoping to coax the man into releasing his own arm. She was successful, Kunzite giving a frustrated sigh before holding his arm out for the Senshi to examine. She unwrapped the cloth and was thankful to see that the damage was not too bad. "Come inside and I'll re-wrap your arm. And please don't do anything to strain it further today."

Kunzite pulled his arm back and retrieved his sword from the ground. "Are you sure that _you_ are not the physician of this palace? You sure sound like it."

Mercury was fairly certain that he meant that as an insult. "I am only trying to help. We need your help, and it will probably be soon. You need to be in decent shape for the coming battle." She used the same tactic on him as she had on Nephrite, mentioning their ability to fight. It seemed as though that was the only thing they understood.

Kunzite shot her a look of annoyance, but gave in to her demands. "Fine, but do make it quick."

Figuring that this was the best she was going to get, she turned and lead him back into the palace.

---

If Mercury saw that he was out of bed, he probably would have got an earful from her, but from his view it looked like she was more concerned with Kunzite than with him at that particular moment.

Nephrite watched as she ran over to him and looked at his injured arm, followed soon after by the two of them heading back inside and out of view. He turned away from the window and returned to his bed, sitting down a bit too quickly and wincing as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

Even though he had protested, he did like how she had seemed so determined to make sure he was comfortable and that his injury wasn't bothering him greatly. Nephrite couldn't help but feel some jealousy as it was Kunzite who was receiving her attention now instead of him.

"Hm," he spoke out loud, the corners of his mouth tightening slightly, "it's not like it matters." Their deaths had only been put off temporarily. Personally, he would have rather died defending the Earth palace rather than on the Moon, but now he was here, injured, and useless in a fight.

A soft knock at his door pulled him from his self-loathing temporarily. Nephrite stared at the door and considered not answering the it. When the other person persisted and knocked a second time, he gave in and told them to enter.

It was the youngest of the Shitennou who had decided to disturb him. "Sorry to bother you. I'll leave if you want," Jadeite offered quietly.

"Doesn't matter," Nephrite answered, gesturing to the chair across the room from him.

Jadeite accepted it and sat quietly, resting his elbows on his knees. "How's your shoulder?"

"Hurts like Hell, but it will heal," he almost laughed to himself at the thought, "if it has time."

Jadeite didn't respond to this, instead he looked down at his boots, as if there was something particularly interesting about them. Nephrite watched him curiously for a moment. '_Does he actually think we will still have a chance?_' he thought, then decided to change the subject.

"Where's Zoisite?"

Jadeite raised his head at this question. "Speaking to Venus last I saw."

"And the Master?" The reply offered to Nephrite was a look from Jadeite that asked _where do you think?_ "Right... stupid question."

They sat in silence for a while longer, each lost in their own thoughts about resent events and what had lead to them. It was certainly easy to blame the Moon Princess for this, just assume that she had bewitched their Master into loving her, but everyone knew that was not the case. It was just too difficult to blame Master Endymion as well.

"About what you said earlier," Jadeite began, breaking the silence. "Do you really believe that... that we won't win?"

Nephrite gave Jadeite a quick glance and then turned, bringing his feet up onto the bed and lying back, ignoring the ache he felt in doing so. "I'm surprised we're not dead already," he replied, looking up at the painted ceiling. It depicted some goddess or another, Nephrite wasn't particularly well versed in the deities associated with the Moon.

He heard Jadeite get out of his seat and walk towards the door. "There's going to be a meeting later today with everyone, if you feel up to it," the younger man said softly.

Nephrite acknowledged this, but stopped Jadeite before he could open the door. "Death isn't something you should fear," he said gruffly. He didn't know if his words helped at all, but it was the best he could offer.

---

Mars sat at the long oval table while they waited for the others to arrive. Venus sat to her right, and beside her were the Princess and Prince Endymion. Kunzite and Zoisite sat across the table from her. Four other seats remained empty.

Very little was being said. The Prince and Princess had made some attempts at conversation, but they had not been terrible successful. No one was in the mood for chitchat.

Jupiter entered the room next and took a seat next to Mars. She nodded politely, but noted the quiet of the room and kept it that way.

Jadeite followed soon after Jupiter and took the seat across from her, beside Kunzite. Mars did not know him well, but he seemed quite grim, more so than the rest of the people in the room. She knew he was the youngest, and until now had probably been relatively sheltered.

Mercury and Nephrite entered the room last, and Mars was a little surprised to see them come in together. She was trying to help him to his seat, but he would have none of it. '_Typical of Earth men..._' Mars thought.

Once everyone was seated, Kunzite stood. "OK, so here is where we stand..."

"Excuse me?" Venus too had stood and was looking at Kunzite like he had lost his mind. "If you think that you are still in charge around here, you have another think coming."

Mars couldn't help but shoot a dirty look at the Shitennou leader. He may have been in charge of things on Earth, but not here. Mars was about to open her mouth, but an action from Zoisite stopped her.

"Kunzite," he said calmly, looking up at the other man. "This is not our territory."

"What?"

"Venus is the Sailor Senshi's leader, and we are on the Moon. This is her show."

Mars looked from one Tennou to the other as they stared at each other. She couldn't help but think that it was nice that at least one of them had some sense. Kunzite looked as though he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back. If looks could kill, Zoisite would probably be dead a few times over.

"Funny," Kunzite said to the white haired Tennou, "I thought that was a Shitennou uniform your wore, not a sailor fuku." His voice was but a whisper, but everyone heard it.

"Kunzite," Endymion finally spoke, using some of his authority. "Sit down. I placed you in charge of the mission on Earth, but this is not Earth."

Receiving an order from the Prince seemed to have sobered his anger. "My apologies, Master. Venus." He nodded to the blonde leader and then sat as asked. He almost looked embarrassed now, as well he should be, Mars thought.

Venus looked to their Princess first before speaking. Once given the go ahead, she began.

---

"As most of you are aware, we have a shield surrounding the Silver Millennium powered by the Ginzuishou. This shield will certainly offer us much protection as Metalia, Beryl and the youma army are not permitted through it."

Jadeite liked the sound of that, it was certainly one of the better things he had heard that day.

"That's not to say that they won't eventually find a way in, but they will lose significant numbers before that happens."

Like all living things, youma can't survive in space. The thought made a chill run up Jadeite's spine. If that shield went out for any reason...

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a new person enter the room, a woman he had never seen before, but knew who she was all the same.

She had long black hair and wore a simple white dress. Atop her head sat a sparkling crown of crystal and she wore a matching necklace. In her hand she carried a sceptre, on top of which sat a shining silver crystal.

Jadeite stood, as did everyone else in the room and bowed as he was expected to when in the presence of royalty. While he head was bowed, he caught sight of two others that had entered with the queen. Two stuffed toy cats? Except they moved on their own and, as Jadeite would learn later, also spoke.

"I am sorry for what happened to your home," Queen Serenity offered. Her voice was soft, and yet held a regal tone. "I am glad to see that all of you are safe."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Endymion replied for them.

"I am afraid that I come with unfortunate news," the Queen continued. "The shield surrounding us will do nothing to protect us from Metalia and her forces."

Jadeite's eyes widened and he quickly cast a look around the table. Everyone was just as surprised as he. The Silver Millennium's Queen continued. "The power of the Ginzuishou and the power of Metalia are one and the same. Anyone who is using Metalia's power would be able to teleport past the shield without problem."

"The same power..." one of the Senshi said quietly to herself. Jadeite barely registered the comment. Just when he had felt that there was hope again, it had been snatched away from him.

"So we make a new shield," Venus said with confidence.

Jadeite looked over at the girl. Could they do that?

Venus gestured to her companions. "We can create a shield by combining our powers. If we extend it past the shield the Ginzuishou powers, then we might stand a chance."

"It won't work, Venus," Zoisite said. Venus shot him an offended look, but he continued. "Your powers are given to you by the Ginzuishou as well. A barrier created by you or by the crystal would be the same thing. It would only result in your powers being drained."

Venus closed her eyes and let out a breath. It looked like Zoisite was right and she was forced to agree. '_So now what?_' Jadeite wondered.

Zoisite looked down the table at the other Tennou, "our powers, however, are not connected to either the crystal or Metalia. _We_ can create such a barrier."


	8. Chapter 8

The meeting ended and the final plan was for the Shitennou to create and hold a shield as long as possible while the Senshi used a combined attack against Metalia. It was a stable plan that Mercury agreed with.

Luna and Artemis would be staying near the Queen. When Metalia started to advance, the Ginzuishou would react and then the guardian cats would alert both sets of royal guardians.

For now, Mercury know that there were at least one Tennou who needed to return to his bed and rest.

Nephrite was speaking to his fellow Shitennou. Most of the people present at the meeting were still in the room, save for the Queen, Luna, and Artemis. Minor details were still being discussed.

Mercury certainly wasn't going to interrupt them, and so she resigned to simply watch until he moved away from the group. It seemed as though Kunzite and Zoisite were doing most of the talking, Kunzite being the leader, and Zoisite, at least according to Mercury's understanding, the second-in-command and the most prolific with magic.

"Keeping an eye on your patient?" Jupiter asked with a smile, standing next to Mercury and following her line of vision.

"Someone needs to make sure he rests, he's too stubborn" the blue haired Senshi replied.

"All Earth men are," replied Venus. She and Mars had joined the other two.

"That's a rather sweeping generalization to make," Mercury stated quietly. She didn't normally like to question the opinions of others, but what Venus had said didn't seem fair.

Mars then stepped in, "but it's an accurate one. Did you see the way Kunzite acted? Thinking he was still in charge?"

"And what about Zoisite?" Jupiter asked. "He stood up against Kunzite, acknowledging Venus as the leader here."

Neither Venus nor Mars could argue that and fell silent.

Zoisite said something to Nephrite then, and gestured to his injured shoulder. Nephrite responded by slipping his arm out of the sling and holding it in front of him, as if to demonstrate that he was fine. Mercury had half a mind to go over there and force his arm back in the sling for him.

Whatever Nephrite had been proving, Zoisite seemed satisfied and moved on to another topic. He spoke for a few more minutes before the group of Earth guardians broke up. Mercury immediately made her move.

"What were you doing?" she asked, a bit more pushy than usual. She could help it, it was ridiculous how he was treating his injury.

Nephrite gave her an infuriated look as he slipped his arm back into its proper place. "It's really none of your business," he said as he roughly pushed the door open and headed down the hall.

Mercury sighed to herself, but followed him. She was still determined to make him see reason.

---

He seemed to have convinced the others than his plan was solid, now if only he could convince himself.

Having the Shitennou create the barrier was really the only option, but Zoisite knew that it was not going to be as large a barrier as the Ginzuishou powered shield, and it was not going to last very long. Not if Beryl struck as soon as Zoisite thought she was going to.

He had just barely managed to restore some of his strength, and felt that he was currently the weakest of the Shitennou, while normally he was the strongest as far as their powers were concerned.

Jadeite was still in decent shape, but, being the youngest, he had had less time to perfect his abilities.

Kunzite and Nephrite were both physically injured, which would dampen their abilities to concentrate. At best, Zoisite estimated that they could hold a barrier for a few minutes, but no more. When it did collapse, they would be more or less exhausted and dependent on the Senshi for any kind of protection. Zoisite did not like their odds.

"Zoisite?"

The white clad man turned and faced his Master. The two had not spoken since before the attack on the Earth palace. "Master?"

"I'm sorry that I haven't spoken to you yet," Endymion apologized. "I'm glad to see that you are well. When I saw that part of the palace crumble..."

Zoisite realized then that his Master had presumed him dead. Death in war is to be expected, but Zoisite too was glad to be alive. As long as he was still breathing, he would continue to protect his Master. "I am fine. You shouldn't worry about me, Master."

"I still do," Endymion said, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder. "I don't want to see any of you hurt."

Zoisite shook his head in protest, "Master..." He caught sight of the Princess then, waiting patiently for her lover. He nodded politely towards her, which Endymion noticed as well.

"I should go, I'll speak to you soon."

Excused, Zoisite turned and made his way for the door. He wasn't entirely sure what he planned to do. If this was Earth, he would have gone straight to his piano, but his most prized possession was probably in several pieces, unrecognisable by now.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he was startled when he felt a hand grab his arm.

"I'm sorry," Venus said, "but can we speak?"

"Of course."

The two walked slowly down the hall together. Zoisite remained silent while he waited for Venus to speak. "I was hoping you could tell me the details of the shield you four can create."

As they walked, Zoisite spotted a few palace servants busying themselves with preparing dinner. His expression turned grim with this. Instead of answering Venus' question, he asked one of his own. "How many people are in this palace besides the royalty and guardians?"

Venus furrowed her eyebrows. "Now? Probably fifty or so. Why?"

"Can they be evacuated?"

"Why?"

Zoisite stopped and turned to face the Senshi leader. "Because the shield we can make will be maybe twenty metres in diameter at best, and that won't last very long. The smaller we can make it, the longer it will last, but we can't protect the palace."

---

"You're staring at her."

Kunzite turned, looking surprised that he wasn't alone on the balcony. Jupiter stepped out and joined him, looking down over the palace grounds.

Nephrite and Mercury were in the gardens, near one of the fountains. Their words couldn't be heard, but Mercury looked rather frustrated. Her 'patient' was not a good one, it would seem.

"I might have been keeping an eye on my fellow Tennou," he stated.

"Not with that look on your face you weren't... unless..."

It looked like Kunzite had almost blushed, but then turned away from the Senshi. Jupiter almost couldn't contain a laugh. She had, of course, been joking, but the Shitennou leader didn't seem to think so. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"I was thinking about heading to the training room to get some exercise in before dinner. I could use a sparring partner," she said. This caught his interest.

Kunzite turned and gave the Senshi a good look over. This didn't particularly bother Jupiter, and she stood with her arms folded waiting for his response.

"Hmm. I'd wipe the floor with you," he commented.

"Try me."

Kunzite tilted his head to the side, then motioned with his hand towards the balcony door. "Lead the way."

Jupiter smiled and did just that, guiding the black haired man through the maze of the Moon Palace. "The women on Earth are not particularly strong, I've heard. Is that true?" she asked, over her shoulder.

"Generally, yes. The men protect the women."

She opened the doors to the empty training room, which she was a little disappointed with. She would have liked to have an audience for this.

In the centre of the room was a large square of padding. She walked to the far end of it then turned and faced her opponent. Kunzite was still standing at the door with his arms folded, but accepted her invitation and stepped onto the matting himself.

"I don't like to fight women," he said.

"Don't think of me as any weak Earth woman who need protection," Jupiter retorted, taking a stance.

Kunzite looked her over once more before gesturing with his hand that she should attack first. He was standing completely relaxed, a smug smile on his face. Jupiter was happy to oblige.

She cartwheeled twice, the second of which Kunzite was forced to step away from to avoid contact. After landing, she immediately kicked out at him, and followed with several punches. He was easily able to avoid these as well. '_He's fast_,' Jupiter noted.

She dropped down and swung her leg out, but he jumped over it gracefully. Reacting quickly she jumped into the air and struck out at him with her foot. This he couldn't dodge, but he blocked he expertly, and threw her off. She landed again on her feet and took a defensive stance. Had this been a real opponent, she probably would have tried one of her attacks at this point.

"My turn," he said with a smirk and quickly lashed out at her with his hand.

Jupiter managed to evade his punches as well, but was shocked by the speed that he was managing, with an injured arm at that.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two other figures by the door, Mars and Jadeite it looked like. Finally, an audience.

He attention was not on her partner now, and Kunzite took full advantage. He swept his leg under her and hit her ankles, causing her to fall backwards. She landed on the padded floor and tried to get up, but Kunzite held her down.

"Damnit!" she exclaimed. She did not want to lose to him.

"You were distracted," he pointed out calmly, getting off of her and offering her his hand. "And enemy can take advantage of that, even if it's for a split second."

Jupiter accepted the offered hand. "Is this a practice match, or a lesson?" she asked.

"It should be both."

Jupiter considered his words as she looked back over at the door. Jadeite looked particularly pleased and was grinning while Mars looked somewhat disappointed. "Dinner is ready," she said before turning and walking out of the room.

The Senshi of Thunder watched as Kunzite left the room ahead of her. If circumstances were different, she would have been happy to find a new sparring partner.

---

Princess Serenity had been disappointed that her mother would not be joining them for dinner. "I would like to dine alone tonight, but do enjoy your time with Endymion," she had said with a sad smile.

Serenity planned to do just that. This would be the first time that she, Endymion, and all eight of their guardians would be having a meal together, and she wanted to make sure that everything was perfect.

Endymion and herself would be positioned at opposite ends of the long table, as was custom. She knew that if she left them to their own, the two sets of guardians would split with the Senshi on one side and the Shitennou on the other. They would only glare at each other, or stare at their plates for the whole meal, and that just wouldn't do.

When Serenity had told Endymion her plan, he had given her a bit of an uncertain look. "All that might do is make them even more uncomfortable," he had said. But Serenity had been adamant and the Earth Prince gave in.

Now, as the various guardians started filing into the dinning room, Serenity couldn't help but smile. Mars entered first, followed soon after by Jupiter, Jadeite, and Kunzite. They went for their seating exactly as Serenity predicted, and then noticed the place names.

Mars and Jupiter both looked at Serenity. She simply continued smiling and gestured to the places set out for them. Jupiter would sit directly to Serenity's right, while Mars was at the opposite end, beside Endymion. Kunzite was beside Jupiter, while Jadeite was on Serenity's left.

As the other four guardians made their way in, they saw that something was different right away. Venus gave the Princess a disappointed look, but took her place, between Jadeite and Zoisite, without a fuss. Mercury looked a bit uncomfortable, seated between Nephrite and Kunzite, but the Princess knew she would relax in a bit.

Serenity wanted everyone to put all the fighting and battles behind them for now, and just have a nice dinner. "I hope everyone likes their seating," she began. "I want us to have a pleasant dinner together, as if with friends and _family_." she continued, stressing the last word. "Please, so no talk of fighting for now."

The Princess then seated herself, followed by Endymion, and then the rest of the dinner guests. She had hoped that they would start talking right away, but was saddened when they did not.

Endymion must have noticed her disappointed expression. "Kunzite, why don't you tell us what you did this afternoon?" he asked. Serenity looked up and smiled at her love, then looked at Kunzite as if what he had to say was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I had a mock fight with Jupiter," he said simply as he raised a glass to his lips, but stopped briefly to add, "which I won."

"You are bragging about beating a girl?" came Nephrite's voice from down the table.

Jupiter then turned her head to look past Kunzite. "You want to go next time, Red?"

It wasn't exactly what Serenity had been hoping for, but it was a start. The dinner continued with similar discussion. Not particularly friendly, but they weren't at each other's throats. It was a nice change.

They were part of the way into the main course when the frantic patter of plush feet was heard. The Princess looked down and saw a very worried Luna and Artemis. "Luna? What's wrong?" she asked. Almost immediately everyone else at the table jumped to attention.

"The Ginzuishou just started reacting! Metalia is on her way!"


	9. Chapter 9

Kunzite was one of the first to race for door, the other Shitennou and Senshi on his heels. He didn't stop until he was outside the palace in view of the Earth.

It was still covered in darkness, but what looked like a black and purple cloud was fast approaching. He looked over his shoulder at the other guardians who were staring at this phenomenon as well. His Master and the Princess came out last, watched closely by Venus and Zoisite.

"Come on! Let's go!" Kunzite yelled at the party. He couldn't care less if Venus thought he was taking change, they could stand there and stare at Metalia all night.

Zoisite and Venus ushered the Prince and Princess to the centre of an open area of the garden. Kunzite heard the Princess ask something about her mother, but did not hear Venus' response, nor did he particularly care.

The Sailor Senshi then organized themselves in a protective circle around the two, while Zoisite planned out the positioning of the Shitennou.

"I think a ten metre radius will be best," he said, pointing out four spots around their Master, the Princess, and the Senshi. "Much larger than that and I don't think we can maintain it for as long as we need to."

"Any attacks that the Senshi wish to make will be blocked by the barrier, right?" Jadeite asked.

"Yes. If we allow the Senshi's attacks to pass, then Metalia can pass through as well. We will have to drop the barrier as soon as they have a clear shot at Metalia," Kunzite explained. "Zoisite will be giving the signal."

Jadeite nodded his understanding and then Zoisite addressed the other matter. "How are your injuries?"

"It hurts a bit," Kunzite admitted, knowing this was no time to feign perfect health, "but I'll be fine."

"Nephrite?"

Nephrite untied his sling and let it fall to the ground. He gingerly moved his arm, grimacing slightly from the pain. He held his hands in front of him as he would when using his powers. "The pain's a bitch, but I can do my job."

Zoisite nodded. "Good. Now, don't use your powers until you pass out. If you are weakened, say so and the remaining three can continue with out you. If there are only two, I doubt they'll be able to maintain a dome, but a flat barrier blocking Metalia would be possible. Let's make it last."

---

Mars watched as the Shitennou broke from their discussion and arranged themselves in an outer circle. Everyone was in position, now all they had to do was wait.

Venus had explained that the shield would block their attacks, so they only had one shot when the Shitennou brought the shield down. They had to make it count. Unfortunately, they did not know what they would be aiming at, as Metalia herself was not a physical being. "When the time is right, we'll know," their leader had said.

Mars could fell Metalia's aura approaching, but like before, as it got closer, it became harder to pinpoint exactly where she was focused. The evil cloud bearing down on her home made Mars feel rather ill.

"Endymion..." Mars heard her Princess whimper. She stole a glance over her shoulder and saw Serenity clinging desperately to the Earth Prince.

"It'll be OK," she said, hoping to offer some comfort. Surrounded by two sets of guardians, the Princess was in the safest place she could be.

"Stay focused!" Venus commanded, and Mars turned back to the black mass. She wanted to offer her Princess something, but Venus was right. Now her mission should be to simply keep the Princess safe, at any cost.

Mars looked up and saw that the cloud was almost on top of them. She knew that the Shitennou would be waiting until the very last second to use their powers, but Mars couldn't help but think that now would be a good time.

"Wait!" Zoisite's voice called, as if he knew that the others were thinking the same thing. "Not yet!"

The cloud surrounded the dome protecting the palace, and Mars fought to keep her stomach in check. Nothing had actually passed through the Ginsuishou powered shield, and for a moment, Mars thought that maybe they had been wrong about it.

There was a frightening silence that followed. The Senshi held battle stances and the Shitennou kept their arms poised in front of them. The cloud seemed to swirl around the dome, and then off to Mars' right, she saw it. A small bit of the mist has in fact passed the shield as if it was testing the waters, and then the attack came.

"NOW!"

Four separate beams of energy were released, and then almost immediately after leaving the Shitennou's hands spread out to form four pieces of the dome in four different colours. The yellow, white, red, and blue sections would then blend together where they met, and arched upward, all four meeting at a point directly over head.

The dark purple mist soon surrounded this dome as well, and was depositing youma all around them. The cloud must have been what was protecting them for their journey from the planet to the moon, Mars figured.

The cloud continued to drop of youma, which encircled the group of ten, but made no move to challenge the shield. "What are they doing?" Mars asked quietly.

Mercury stood to her right, and after observing the scene had an answer. "They know the Shitennou are weak," she said. "They are just waiting for the shield to fail."

---

Venus looked at the scene around her. Mercury was right, that was exactly what they were doing, and it was only youma. There was no sign yet of Beryl or Metalia, save for that sickening feeling they were all experiencing.

Nothing happened for several minutes. The youma continued to wait, and the Shitennou continued to poor energy into the shield. Venus remembered Zoisite's words and knew it would not be much longer now.

"I'm out!" Venus heard one of the men shout and the red portion of the dome flickered and then vanished. Nephrite backed up to where the Senshi stood, holding his injured shoulder and growling in frustration.

Zoisite and Jadeite moved to cover him, the dome now only being powered by the three of them. Venus only had a clear view of Zoisite, and could see that he was struggling.

The Senshi leader considered their options. The shield was doing nothing but draining the Tennou. If they dropped it sooner or later, it wouldn't matter. Whatever attack that was planned would happen, but if they could still get some fight out of the Shitennou...

"Drop it! There's no point!" Venus heard herself shout.

Zoisite looked over his shoulder at her, and then signalled the others. "She's right. Drop it!"

The entire dome then dissipated. The Senshi prepared themselves to fight and three of the four Tennou drew their weapons. Nephrite's shoulder seemed to be causing him too much pain.

Venus had assumed that they youma would attack as soon as possible, but still none moved. They continued to hold their positions around the ten.

She took her time, it was after several minutes that Beryl finally showed herself. She appeared almost directly in front of Venus, between Kunzite and Zoisite. The two men upon seeing her, ran to put themselves between Beryl and their Master.

Jadeite ran to join the group in the middle. He and Nephrite both standing in front of Endymion as well, while the Senshi continued to hold their circle. Venus would not have them forget about the surrounding youma.

"Endymion!" Beryl called out, ignoring the guardians who stood in her way. "Come. Stand by my side. Together we will rule the Earth and Moon."

"What?" Endymion asked, seemingly surprised by this turn of events.

"You are all I wanted," Beryl continued, taking a few steps in the Prince's direction. "I did all of this for you."

"Back off," Venus heard Kunzite snarl.

Beryl stopped then, and gave the two guardians a dangerous look. "Out of my way," she said, raising her hands and striking both Tennou squarely in the chest with a burst of dark purple energy. They were flung backwards, landing on their backs on either side of the rest of the group.

Zoisite landed closest to Venus, and she heard him groan, but he didn't get up. The force of the blow almost knocking him unconscious. She couldn't imagine that Kunzite had faired much better.

Endymion gasped and stupidly tried to leave the group, hoping to reach one of his injured guardians. Jadeite and Nephrite both stepped in and held him back. Venus continued kept a close eye on Beryl.

---

Endymion desperately wanted to help his friends. He fought to free himself from the hold his other two Tennou had on him, but they would not be easily dissuaded.

"Let me go!" He ordered, but such orders fell on deaf ears.

"And hand you over to her? I don't think so, Master," Nephrite replied. They Shitennou did normally follow the orders they were given by the Prince, unless such an order would place him in harm's way.

"Endymion! Join me and no one else needs to be hurt."

All he needed to do was go to Beryl and this would all end. Endymion could think of nothing he wanted more. "If I go to you," he called out, "you will let Serenity, my guardians, and her Senshi live?"

Beryl smiled, "of course."

"Don't... Master..." Endymion saw Zoisite trying to force himself off the ground. Similarly to his left, Kunzite too tried to stand.

"She lies..."

Endymion looked from one Tennou to the other, now torn. He didn't want to abandon them to an unknown fate.

Beryl's eyes darkened and she released another two bursts of energy. Endymion watched in horror as his friends were knocked back to the ground again, but this time the energy did not leave them. Beryl held it in place as it engulfed the two guardians, causing them to cry out in pain.

"No..." Endymion choked out, again trying to push his way past his other two Tennou.

"Master! No!" one of them yelled, Endymion didn't even register which it was. They were both holding him back. How could they allow this to happen to Zoisite and Kunzite? He just wanted to save them.

"Stop it, Beryl! Please!" he cried.

"Then come to me," she repeated. "Or I will kill them." She continued to hold his hands in front of her, one directed at each of the Tennou. As if to prove her point, she curled her fingers slightly, eliciting a scream from both men.

Endymion didn't know what he could do to give into Beryl's will. All he needed was to get past his guardians. He couldn't take the sound or sight of his two friends in such terrible agony any more. He drew his sword.


	10. Chapter 10

Nephrite jumped forward and turned to face his Master, even though he knew how dangerous it was for him to turn his back on Beryl. He was shocked that his Master had in fact pulled out his sword and was holding it in front of him, as though he meant to attack his only remaining guardians.

No, Nephrite corrected himself. Kunzite and Zoisite were still alive, but caught in an excruciatingly painful hell. He could almost feel their pain every time they cried out. He flinched as another round of screams reached his ears.

"Move." Endymion's voice commanded. Nephrite couldn't imagine that his Master would kill two of his guardians to save the other two, but the look in his Master's eyes told Nephrite that the man could not see reason. His only desire now was to stop Kunzite and Zoisite's agony.

The Senshi continued to hold their ground, but didn't know how to react to this new turn of events. The Princess was holding onto Endymion's arm, trying to hold him in places as well. "Endymion... please..." she begged.

"No." Jadeite said firmly. He too had backed away from his Master, but like Nephrite, was not going to move out of Endymion's way unless forced to.

"You would allow them to suffer like this?!"

Nephrite could feel his body trembling, tears threatening to fill his eyes. He hated it just as much as Endymion, but he would not forsake his mission. "Yes," he replied.

Endymion's eyes grew wide at Nephrite's answer. Nephrite continued to speak, hoping to snap his Master out of it. "You would go to her? You would allow Beryl and Metalia to rule the Earth?!" Nephrite was very much aware that he was yelling. He had never raised his voice to his Master before now. "I would gladly suffer ten times what they are before I would allow that to happen, and so would they."

Endymion's eyes relaxed for a moment as he looked from one fallen guardian to the other. Nephrite too allowed himself to look. They still writhed, but their voices were gone. They had no strength left to vocalize their pain.

"Endymion..." Beryl's now impatient voice warned. Endymion looked up at her, then gave Zoisite and Kunzite one final look before closing his eyes, sheathing his sword, and taking a step back. Nephrite and Jadeite both turned again, facing Beryl.

She was furious, her eyes burned with anger. She moved her hands and the energy that held the two guardians in perpetual agony disappeared. The bodies of both men relaxed, and Nephrite did not know if they were dead or unconscious. Either way, he was relieved that their suffering had ended.

"You have two guardians left. I can do the same to them. Or perhaps... the Princess..."

---

The moment Beryl threatened the Princess, Jupiter and the other Senshi jumped in front of her, determined to keep Beryl from getting her claws into Serenity.

"You're not laying a finger on her!" Jupiter said, challenging the red haired woman, but Beryl was not interested in what one of the Senshi had to say.

Beryl held her hands in front of her as she had before. They glowed a dangerous deep purple. "Endymion. I will make sure that she dies the same, if not a more painful death."

'_Damnit Endymion, just go to her already!_' Jupiter thought. It would at very least buy them some time and avoid more casualties.

She glanced over at the still body of Kunzite. It had been less than two hours ago that they were in the training room of the palace. The first person she had fought in a while that had presented her with a challenge. _You were distracted and the enemy can take advantage of that, even if it's for a split second._

Jupiter immediately returned her focus to Beryl. If she did let that energy fly, Jupiter knew she would have to react quickly. She would happily take it in place of her Princess, or any of the other Senshi.

Nephrite and Jadeite were still forcing Endymion to hold his ground. Jupiter could understand their desire to keep their Prince from harm, but what good will it do if it just results in everyone's death? They could still rescue him later, could they not?

"What difference does it make?" Jupiter heard Nephrite respond to something Beryl had said. "You'll kill us all in the end anyway."

Beryl's response to this was to simply narrow her eyes and let the energy ball fly. It went right past the three men and was aimed with deadly accuracy at the Princess. Jupiter was in it's path in a second and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact. It never came.

Cautiously she opened her eyes and was surprised to see that someone else had stepped in front of her. She was holding her sceptre high and the energy that radiated from it was holding Beryl's attack in place. "Queen Serenity..."

Jupiter was vaguely aware of the Prince and two Tennou hurriedly getting out of the way of the power struggle.

"You will not harm my daughter!" the Queen's voice rang out.

"And you will die with her!"

---

Everything was happening so fast. First Serenity had though for certain she was dead, and then her mother had appeared as if out of thin air. She quickly clung to Endymion when he returned to her and hid behind the six remaining guardians.

The golden glow coming from the Ginzuishou battled with the dark energy that Beryl threw at it, the two powers seeming to cancel each other out at the half-way point between the two women.

Serenity looked up at Endymion with a worried expression. He place his arm around her shoulders to reassure her, but continued to watch the battle.

"We attack Beryl now," Serenity heard the leader of her Senshi say. "It might hurt her long enough for our Queen to do enough damage."

The other Senshi agreed quickly, and one of the Shitennou added under his breath, "you couldn't have done this before?" but he was ignored.

Serenity watched as her Senshi gathered together, concentrating on pooling their energy. She had never seen them attempt anything like this before. She felt the need to help them in some way, but didn't know how.

They turned their backs to one another and began to glow in their respective colours. Serenity watched in awe and felt Endymion's hold on her tighten ever so slightly. Could this work?

"Sailor... Planet... Attack!"

All four of her Senshi turned and faced Beryl, who was still too occupied with battling the power of the Ginzuishou to notice the new attack. The shining energy attack hit her with full force and caused her to stumble and end her attack. The Ginzuishou's light then hit her.

Serenity covered her ears and closed her eyes when she heard Beryl scream. She didn't really know what happened next. Eventually the scream faded and then there was silence. Endymion suddenly pulled her into a hug and she then felt it safe to observe her surroundings.

Beryl was gone, but her mother was knelling on the ground, a hand pressed to her head. "Mother!" Serenity called, and ran to her.

"I am fine," the Queen said, "It just took a lot out of me."

Serenity looked around at the others. Venus and Jadeite were hovering over Zoisite while Mercury and Nephrite had gone to Kunzite's side. Jupiter and Mars remained near the Queen and Serenity.

"He's alive!" Venus called out.

"They both are!" Mercury added.

Serenity then smiled up at Endymion. He looked incredibly relieved, but uncertain about which guardian to go to first. After some debating, he decided on Zoisite.

"Are you sure you are alright, Mother?" Serenity asked, helping the Queen to stand.

"Yes, I will just need some rest, that is all. I am just glad that you are safe."

---

When he opened his eyes, the world was a blur. He heard some distant voices, but nothing they said seemed to make any sense. They were most definitely excited about something.

Zoisite closed his eyes for a few moments and then tried again. The room was a bit clearer. It was mostly white, golden lamps hung from the ceiling. He recognized them as being from the moon palace.

Everything then came back to him in a flash and he tried to sit up, but was met with some difficulty. "Easy," someone told him. "Just relax, you're safe."

"My Master?" he asked the voice, not really concerned with his own well being.

"I'm right here, Zoisite."

Zoisite turned his head to the right, and saw that his Master was seated beside him. He then became aware of the pressure on his hand, his Master was squeezing it as well. "I'm so glad you are alright."

He looked well enough, but Zoisite had to be sure. "Master, were you injured at all?"

Endymion smiled at his selfless concern. "No, not a scratch."

Zoisite exhaled in relief and felt that he could relax once more. He looked around the rest of the room, it was most definitely the Moon Palace infirmary. The doctor was busy with something on the other side of the room.

He found Jadeite next, the young man smiling happily. "Kunzite beat you by about five hours," he said, gesturing to the other bed.

Kunzite lay there, looking much more awake than Zoisite felt. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a competition. How long have I been out?"

"Almost two full days," his Master answered. "Please don't do anything like that again."

"Now you two," the doctor said, referring to Jadeite and Endymion, "you can see that they are both alive and well now, so please let them get some rest."

Endymion stood and patted Zoisite on the shoulder before leaving, Jadeite following on his heals. Zoisite allowed himself to sink into the mattress then and closed his eyes. Sleep would not be difficult. His Master was fine, that was all that mattered. He would get the answers to the rest of his questions later.

---

She slowly opened her eyes for the first time. It was raining, causing her clothing and hair to stick to her skin. She was lying on the ground and shivered, feeling cold for the first time.

She could hear voices, and saw the figures of three men running towards her. She closed her eyes and pretended to be unconscious. When they reached her, she listened to their voices.

"You just saw her now?"

"Yes, I don't know how she got here."

"With everything that had been going on here lately, I suppose anything is possible."

"Lift her on to my back. My home as a spare room, she can stay there for now."

"Are you sure? You've already taken one in as it is."

"One more won't hurt."

She then felt herself lifted and gently placed on the man's back. She kept all her muscled limp and relaxed. It would be easier for her if she woke up later. She would tell them that she had no memory up until that point, which was in some ways true. She had memories, but they were not her own. They were enough though to tell her what she was, and what she wanted.

To be continued...


End file.
